


flowers and coffee

by jar_full_of_honey



Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe, Day Two, F/M, Slibbs Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24151600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jar_full_of_honey/pseuds/jar_full_of_honey
Summary: AU in which Gibbs develops a great interest in flowers.
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane
Comments: 5
Kudos: 77





	flowers and coffee

He walked into the flower shop with his thoughts still on the suspect they had brought in this morning, not really taking notice of anything else. The only reason he was walking into a flower shop on his own account was the promise he gave Tobias to pick Emily up from the airport today. And since she came back from rehab, he thought it would be nice to surprise her with some flowers. 

They’d a case years ago where the body happened to be found in a trash can right in front of a little flower shop in Georgetown. He made friends with the owner and since then, whenever he needed flowers – which wasn’t the case very often – he came there, and she would through something beautiful together on her own accord. It always turned out way prettier than his imagination and spared him the trouble of trying to remember flowers other than roses. 

When he pushed open the door, he heard a bell go off somewhere in the back of the store and was greeted by the strong smell of a variety of flowers, wet minerals and ozone. Still not very focused on the task at hand, he flipped open his phone to check if his team had left a message with an update. 

When he heard someone coming to the front of the shop he called out “Hey Marry. The usual please” without looking up from his phone. “And what would the usual be?” The voice made him stop and turn around immediately. 

The woman standing behind the counter definitely wasn’t the seventy-year-old lady he had expected. “You are not Marry”, was all he got out. Which, considering the obvious age difference between the two women, wasn’t really something he’d to point out. 

“Really? What betrayed me?” He smiled at her quip and was immediately mesmerized by the smile she sent his way in return. She was probably around his age. Maybe a few years younger. Her blond hair fell in soft waves around her face and barely touched her shoulders. But what really drew him in where her eyes. They were a warm chocolate brown. Comfort. That was the first word that came to his mind. 

When he realized he had stared quite some time at her without answering her question, he felt a blush creeping up his neck right to his ears. Why the hell was he blushing? He couldn’t even remember the last time he blushed like this. Probably in high school. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know Marry sold the shop. It’s been some time since the last time I was here.” Did he just apologize to her? What the in the world was going on with him?

“She didn’t sell the shop. I’m her niece. I took over a year ago when she was ready to retire. So, if you’d tell me what your usual is, I might be able to get it for you.” She smiled again and for a second he thought he might have forgotten how to talk. Lucky for him, when he moved his lips the word actually came out. 

“Well, I’m not a big flower expert, so Marry kind of always threw together what she had around I guess.” He shrugged his shoulders and was aware that he probably sounded incredible dumb right now. 

“That’s no problem at all. Let’s see if I can earn your trust just as my aunt could. Wife?” He nearly lost his footing. “What?” She chuckled at his shocked response. “The flowers… a gift for your wife?” He only shook his head in answer. “Ah, I see. Not as small talk kinda guy. Fine with me.” She shrugged and left with a couple of flowers. “Five minutes”, she threw over her shoulder. 

True to her word, she reappeared five minutes later with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. “I hope whoever you gift them to will appreciate that you trusted a complete stranger with your order.” She grinned at him and he couldn’t help but grin back at her sass. “I’ll make sure to mention it.”   
When he handed her the cash their fingers only touched for a second, maybe less, but it felt like he was struck by lightning. And judging by the look on her face she had felt it too. 

But being his usual stoic self, he didn’t say anything else. And neither did she. It seemed like her sass left her the second his manhood left him. 

As he walked out of the flower shop and over to his car, he seriously asked himself if he might be getting a cold or something. Never in his life had he acted as weird as he just had in this flower shop. He was a hard-ass former marine now special agent with a reputation that precedes him everywhere he went. He’d four marriages under his belt. Three of them divorced. He’d had relationships in between and after, but never ever had he acted this foolish around a woman before. 

For the rest of the day the case was forgotten. All he could think about was her. 

Emily loved the flowers and was begging him to give her the phone number or location of the florist. Under the pretense of telling the woman that Emily had loved the flowers and that, in fact, she did earn his trust, he revisited the shop the next day. And the day after and the day after that. Buying flowers every time but not exchanging more than a few jokes or pleasantries. 

By Friday night he was sitting on his couch surrounded by a sea of flowers and he knew he needed to man up or forget the woman. He couldn’t keep showing up at her store to buy tons of flowers he didn’t really need, just to see her smile. This was ridicules. 

In a spur-of-the-moment thing he jumped up from his couch, took his car keys from the side table and took off towards her shop. Only when he arrived did he realize that it was after 8 pm and that she had probably long gone home. 

He got out of the car anyway and just as he reached the entrance, the woman herself stepped out of the door and locked up behind her. When she turned around, she nearly ran him over and then let out a little shriek of surprise when she noticed him. 

“Oh my god, you nearly gave me a heart attack. Are you here to buy more flowers? One day I really would like to know which lucky woman has been at the receiving end of all those flowers.” Again, he just stared at her. Man-up already Gunny! “Have coffee with me.” Again, just silence. Then “What?”. 

She looked a little rattled and confused and he really was an idiot. “Okay, this came out the wrong way. I probably sound like a creep right now. You don’t even now my name.” He touched his fingers to his scalp and rubbed a few times, trying to think of a way to get out of this situation as painless as possible. “I was just thinking that maybe, if you have time, we could get coffee together sometime.” 

Gibbs half closed his eyes, waiting to get for the fallout – that never came. “Yes, yes of course. I mean…”, she cleared her throat. “I’d like that. I’m free now if you… I mean if you have time now.” She looked down at herself and then blushed bright pink. “Or maybe not. I hadn’t had time to get changed and I look like a wildflower field right now.”   
She paused a second and then added “And I probably smell like one too.” She blushed again. This time it was an even darker color and he was suddenly very comforted by the fact that she was just as nervous as he was. “I don’t mind at all. So, coffee it is. Do you mind a little walk to the next coffee shop?” “No, not at all. That would be great.” 

“So, the flowers weren’t for someone special after all?” He smirked at her perspicacity. “The first bouquet was for my niece and the rest… well let’s just say they decorate my living room rather nicely.” “Well, I feel honored…”, she cringed at the lack of name and bumped his shoulder lightly as they walked side my side. “Maybe that’s the right moment for introductions.” “Jethro Gibbs.” “I see”, she laughed. “It fits. Jack. Jack Sloane.” “Nice to meet you Jack.” If he kept on smirking that way, she was sure her knees would turn into jelly sooner rather than later. 

They turned the corner and arrived in front of the coffee shop but as he went to grab the door handle, she stopped him. “Gibbs. I can call you that right?” After a short nod she continued. “I know this is not the talk you should have on a first date. Assuming this even is a date. But I like you. You seem like a decent guy and when you first came into the flower shop, I felt like we had a moment there which I never had so that kind of threw me off. I need you to know that I’m not an easy person. I come with a lot of baggage and unresolved issues and if I were someone else, I’d probably tell you to stay away from me.” She stared at him, fully aware that she just had a major rant and that he’d probably make a run for it as long as he still could. 

But instead he smiled at her and shrugged. “Okay.” And with that he opened the door for her and with a comforting hand on her lower back he pushed her into a new direction.


End file.
